


Flipping the pages

by Becci Barnes (BeccEEE)



Series: STB Bingo 2020 [4]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternative Timeline, Coming Out, Established Relationship, Established Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Fluff, M/M, Moving In Together, Not Canon Compliant, Talking About the Past, Trans Male Character, Trans Tony Stark, Transgender, supportive boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28057482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccEEE/pseuds/Becci%20Barnes
Summary: When Steve has to leave his flat, he rushes to move in with his new boyfriend Tony. While unpacking his things, a photo album falls into his hands and he curiously flips through it, not knowing that by doing so he is putting Tony in an unpleasant situation.---"This is private" he hissed, crossing his arms over the book as he pressed it tightly against his chest. Steve felt guilty right away.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: STB Bingo 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2039457
Comments: 2
Kudos: 93
Collections: STB Bingo: Round One





	Flipping the pages

**Author's Note:**

> Fill number 4 for the Steve-Tony-Bucky-Bingo : https://stb-bingo.tumblr.com/
> 
> Prompt: Backwards Baseball Caps
> 
> In order to make this work with the prompt I had to add 15 years to the canon timeline so don't be confused.  
> Also please let me know if you miss any tags :)

"Is this the last box?" Tony asked with a groan, putting said box down next to the sofa. Steve looked up from the books he was holding and glanced around the room. Quite a few moving boxes were scattered to all corners, making it an obstacle course to cross the living room even though it was so spacious.  
"I think there are two more to go" Steve said, counting through them once more.  
"Two more? Seriously?" Tony moaned, slumping down on the sturdy box he had just brought in. "You've been dead for seventy years, how can you even have this much stuff?"  
Steve grinned. "I've been catching up the past few months." Tony rolled his eyes and muttered something unintelligible featuring the words _online_ , _e-book_ and _streaming_. Steve gave him a reproachful look from across the room. "That's not the same" Tony just shook his head, but smirked and rose from the box again.   
"You could at least bring them up here yourself. All this stuff is yours, after all" he complained then, reaching for the water bottle that was ready on the coffee table.  
"Hey, I did carry most of the boxes up myself," Steve justified himself, then put _Perfume: The Story of a Murderer_ and _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ back on the rickety pile of books he had just been working on and headed towards Tony, having to manoeuvre around quite a few moving boxes and parts of disassembled furniture.   
"Yeah, but _you_ can easily carry two boxes at once," Tony said, taking a few big gulps from the water bottle before putting it somewhat gruffly back on the coffee table. "Anyone normal can only do one of these at a time and that's why it takes for-ever" He stretched the last word and punctuated it with a look that was obviously meant to elicit sympathy. But Steve just wrapped his arms around Tony's waist and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Just two more, then you can help me arrange things up here"   
"You wish" Tony snorted indignantly, but leant his forehead against Steve's collarbone. "Once the stuff is upstairs, I'm not lifting a single finger anymore." Steve laughed softly into Tony's hairline and hugged his boyfriend closer.   
Steve had to be out of his mind to get himself into this after only a few weeks of relationship. Completely rushing to move in with Tony because he himself had been given notice on his flat was not exactly a reaction that was usual for Steve. And yet he couldn't imagine anything better than waking up every morning next to the man he loved, who had already given him back so much of his zest for life in the short time they had known each other now. Something he had thought he had lost forever. Steve was utterly convinced that it had been fate that their paths had crossed and that Tony had not hesitated for a second to offer Steve his flat. Steve didn't know what had made him deserve this man, but obviously he had done something right.

For a while they stood there, silent and lost in the comfort of each other's presence. Then Tony sighed exaggeratedly loudly against Steve's collarbone and disengaged from him "Just two more," he repeated Steve's words and trotted back outside towards the lift. Steve watched him leave and smiled before he returned to the stacks of books he had just been sorting into the shelf, one by one. Tony had cleared two boards on his shelf in advance, but it was nowhere near enough. Steve peered at the shelf that was above his section. He spotted a lot of reference books on technical things he didn't understand. Every now and then there were novels or books on psychology mixed in that didn't really fit in with the overall picture. The section at the very bottom of the shelf contained several large folders that looked important, a thick leather-bound book, and other readings that needed the extra height of that section. 

Steve heard the door of the lift in the corridor and a few seconds later Tony came back into the room, holding another large box in his hands.  
"Tony, I think I need more space," Steve said, gesturing to the overstuffed bookshelf.  
"More than two boards?" Tony asked with disbelief and Steve shrugged apologetically.   
"Buying a second shelf would be easier," Tony said, eyeing the many boxes that were still around. Steve pointed to the books he already had stacked in front of him. "I definitely need a place for these. The rest can stay boxed up until we get a second shelf."  
"You can clear out the bottom compartment" Tony said then, waving his hand ambiguously in the direction of the shelf. "This stuff should have gone to the attic a long time ago anyway, now I at least have a reason to do it." Steve nodded and started pulling the heavy folders out of the shelf while Tony left the flat again to get the last box out of the removal van.

Steve knelt down on the floor in front of the shelf making it easier to reach the things and began to clear out the bottom board. As he had already suspected, the folders contained mostly documents from Tony's degree at MIT and old blueprints from times before he had done all of it digitally. But the large book, bound in brown leather, had caught Steve's attention the moment he pulled it out of the shelf. The leather was soft and the corners reinforced with metal, but the edges and spine were battered and it looked as if it was several years, if not decades, old. The pages seemed unusually thick and heavy and Steve opened it curiously somewhere in the middle. It was a photo album.   
Steve looked at the pictures on the page he had opened. The first thing that caught his eye was a large school photo that covered the entire left-hand page. It had to be the first or second class of a primary school and the boys and girls all looked a little insecure as they stood there in the schoolyard, in front of a venerable brick building whose entrance was flanked by large white columns. Steve scanned the photo and examined the faces of the many children, but could not spot Tony at first glance. Maybe it wasn't his class, Steve thought, and his eyes went to the second page. There were two more photos glued in, but they looked less official and more like someone had taken a snapshot and considered it good afterwards. The first photo showed a library, at least that was what Steve assumed from the many books visible in the background. Three girls were sitting at a wooden desk and appeared to be doing homework. One of them was so engrossed in her exercises that she had not even noticed the camera, the second had formed a V with her fingers and was thus giving the third girl rabbit ears, while they both laughed into the camera.   
The picture directly below showed the same three girls, in identical T-shirts and with colourful roller skates on their feet. Two of them were waving excitedly and again laughing brightly at the camera and now Steve could also see the third girl. She was smiling sheepishly, but Steve's gaze stuck to her. The eyes looked very familiar to him. 

"That was the last box. You're officially moved in now!" Tony said triumphantly, staggered in with said box and kicked the flat's door shut behind him. Steve looked up from the photo album and smiled at him. "I won't be moved in until they're all unpacked again." Tony stacked the box on top of another near him and then looked over at Steve. In a split second all joy had fallen from his face and he stared at Steve with an unfamiliar stern look on his face.  
"What do you have there?" he asked gravely, crossing the room so fast that he ran into several boxes. Steve had barely opened his mouth to answer before Tony had snatched the album from his hand and slammed it shut. "This is private" he hissed, crossing his arms over the book as he pressed it tightly against his chest. Steve felt guilty right away.   
"I'm sorry," he said and got up from the floor. Tony turned away from him demonstratively.   
"I shouldn't have just looked in, I'm sorry," Steve said to Tony's back. "Won't happen again."   
"I sure hope so" Tony retorted stiffly, but Steve heard that his voice suddenly sounded clogged. Without a second thought, Steve pulled Tony into a tight hug that sandwiched Tony's folded arms, along with the photo album, between their chests. He felt Tony rest his head in the dip between Steve's neck and his collarbone again, which was a good sign at least. His body quivered slightly and Steve felt something wetting the collar of his T-shirt.   
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently as he stroked Tony's back reassuringly with one hand. Tony shook his head as best he could in his position.   
"I'll be alright in a minute" he muttered. "Just hold me, okay?"   
"Okay"   
Steve continued to hold him without questioning it and kept his hand stroking Tony's back. But as he waited, giving Tony the time he needed to recover, he couldn't help but wonder what was in that photo album that was upsetting Tony so much. He knew that Tony didn't have any family anymore and could only assume that the album contained quite a few memories of the past. Steve also knew that Tony had lost his parents in a car accident, but he didn't know if there had been anyone else close to him. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings... He would have liked to know more about Tony's childhood, but somehow it had never been the right moment to ask him about it. And now Steve would definitely not be the one to broach the subject. Tony would tell him about it when he was ready to share it. That they were living together now didn't change the fact that they had only known each other for a few months and had only been together for a few weeks. Steve didn't want to rush into anything, especially not when it was obviously a delicate topic for Tony.   
Tony's upper body lifted as he took one deep breath and then looked up again. "I'll put this away, then you can carry on with putting your books away." He looked at the boxes they were standing amongst. "And we definitely need a second shelf here."

The second shelf solved many of their problems. Nevertheless, it still took Steve almost a week to store all his things. Tony had emptied a few compartments in the wardrobe for him, not without shaking his head ("It's a mystery to me how anyone can have more books than clothes"), and after they had rearranged the furniture in Tony's workroom a little, they had found a place for Steve's new drawing table in there, thus fulfilling one of Steve's long-cherished wishes.  
With every box they emptied, Steve felt a little more at home. A feeling he desperately wanted to hold on to, because he had had to live without it for far too long. The flat he had inhabited since they had taken him out of the ice a year ago had always been rather sporadic. A place to eat and sleep, but not a home. But after the last box had been unpacked and the last towels had been put in the bathroom cabinet and when Steve looked around the living room, for the first time since he was in the "New World" he actually had the feeling of having arrived somewhere. His gaze wandered over the dark sofa, the glass coffee table, the large television, the shelves full of books and the cosy carpet. Tony's modern and sometimes eccentric style had mixed with Steve's rustic and natural one, creating a unique image that Steve could not describe in any other way than "home". 

He pulled one of his books from the new shelf and settled down on the sofa, stretching his legs long across the entire seat. Since arriving in the 21st century, he had worked practically around the clock for SHIELD. It was only because of him moving that they had allowed him a week off and Steve was absolutely sure that Tony had had a hand in that. Only Steve had hardly been able to use the free days due to the astonishing number of moving boxes. But now he had a whole free weekend ahead of him during which he might finally be able to read through some of his new books. He opened _The Name of the Rose_ and immersed himself in it.

As the key rattled in the lock behind him, he turned around and saw Tony stepping through the door and carelessly tossing his bunch of keys onto the small sideboard next to it. He had a deep frown on his face and was scowling. When he saw Steve he smiled, but Steve noticed that the smile didn't reach his eyes.   
"Busy day?" Steve asked from the sofa. Tony just nodded as he kicked his shoes off his feet and threw his bag after them. Then he said, "I'm going to make myself a coffee, do you want one too?"   
"Yes, please," Steve replied and Tony shuffled into the kitchen without another word. Steve turned back to his book. It wasn't unusual for Tony to be in a bad mood on a Friday night. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but it wore down his nerves when he had to explain to several suits at the weekly meeting what he would give his fortune away for and what purchases he definitely would not pay for. Since they were dating, Tony had come to Steve almost every Friday to unwind after this annoying but important meeting. And Steve knew that the best therapy for his grumpiness was coffee and cuddling. The former was in the making right now. For the latter, Tony would be joining him on the sofa any moment now.

When Tony put down the cups on the coffee table, Steve looked up again. He barely had time to put his book aside before Tony had already sprawled on top of him, also stretched out lengthwise on the seat, his right arm in the narrow gap between Steve's torso and the back of the sofa, his left arm hanging loosely down towards the floor. "I hate Fridays" he muttered, his face pressed firmly against Steve's chest. Steve laughed softly and freed his arms from Tony's weight to rest them on his back. "But Friday means it's the weekend now" he said, pressing a kiss to Tony's hair, the only spot he could reach somewhat effortlessly. Tony turned his head to the side, because it was considerably easier to breathe when he didn't have Steve's body pressed against his mouth and nose, and did not answer.

For quite a bit they just lay there while the coffee on the table slowly became cold and all that was circling in Steve's head was that they could have this every Friday night now. And not only that. They could have it on absolutely any day of the week. Once again, Steve was completely overwhelmed by how lucky he was with this man in his arms and that Tony Stark, the billionaire who could have literally anyone on this earth, had chosen him of all people, the not-so-little-anymore boy from Brooklyn.

"I need to tell you something" Tony said abruptly, pulling Steve back out of his thoughts about him.   
"Sure, always" Steve said, somewhat eager to hear what was about to come. "What's up?"  
Tony was silent for an unusually long time before he said, "There are things I haven't told you yet." He kept his gaze fixed on the coffee table in front of his eyes as he spoke. "Things about me"  
Steve was silent. He had a vague suspicion that it was about Tony's unusually strong reaction to the photo album. But he didn't want to jump to conclusions and so he waited patiently for Tony to continue speaking. "Very private things..."  
Tony hesitated and with the fingers of his left hand began to fiddle nervously with the carpet. He obviously seemed to struggle a lot with speaking out about what was on his mind. And although Steve wished Tony would trust him enough to tell him everything without being timid, he didn't want to pass judgement until he knew what he was dealing with. But Tony clearly seemed to be in need of encouragement, so he said: "You know you can always tell me everything. But if you're not comfortable with it yet, then I don't need to know anything at all"  
"No" Tony said, pushing his upper body up so he could look directly at Steve. "You should know. You'd find out anyway. And I want you to know it from me."   
Tony took two deep breaths and rested his head back on Steve's chest. He sucked in air one more time, and then without looking at Steve, he said: "I was born in the wrong body." 

Something seemed to click into place in Steve's brain. It was as if he had found a missing piece by surprise that fitted into the puzzle he was trying to complete in his head. Suddenly Steve could see more of the whole picture, see more of Tony. He probably wouldn't have figured it out on his own, but somehow it made sense, even if Steve couldn't yet grasp the full extent of it.   
"Thank you for sharing this with me" Steve said, hugging Tony a little tighter to signal that it was okay. That he didn't have a problem with it. But that he was really just glad that Tony trusted him enough to tell him.   
"I know, I should have told you sooner" Tony blurted out suddenly. "Not just after you moved in here and it's so much harder for you to back out now."   
"Why should I back out?" Steve interrupted him before Tony talked himself into a frenzy. Tony pushed himself up again, this time into a more upright position. He sat down on Steve's outstretched legs and looked at him scrutinisingly. "Well, because..." he was obviously struggling for words to express his feelings and fears. So Steve decided to beat him to it, "You've been honest with me, so I want to be honest with you. I have no experience with this. None at all. But I love you and I trust you and I'm more than willing to listen and to learn. So, if you want me to address you in any other way, or use any other name..."  
"No, no" Tony interrupted him immediately. "I don't mean it like that. I'm Tony, he, male pronouns...." He hesitated. "That's all you need to know."  
Steve nodded. "Okay." And it was okay with him.   
Tony smiled sheepishly, something Steve had rarely seen him do before. Normally he was confidence personified. "Are you feeling better now?" Steve asked.   
"Much better," Tony confirmed, "I wasn't originally planning on telling you at all..." He omitted the reason why and Steve didn't follow up on it.   
"Who else knows about it?" he asked cautiously instead, unsure if Tony would answer questions.   
"Most people, actually," Tony sighed. "You've been lucky to still have been asleep during the last 20 years or you would have known long ago too" He grimaced. "The media is cruel"   
He stared into nothingness while things seemed to go through his mind he wasn't ready to share yet.   
"Tony," Steve said softly and Tony's gaze fixed on Steve again "I love you."   
Tony smiled more broadly and honestly than Steve had seen in a long time. "Oh, I love you more"   
Steve straightened to give him a heartfelt kiss. Then he added, "But my legs are starting to go numb."   
Tony punched him in the shoulder. "That was a very romantic moment and _you_ ruined it!" But he got up to allow the blood to return to Steve's legs. 

When they went to bed that night, things were different. Steve was the last one to leave the bathroom and stepped into their bedroom, lost in thought, when he almost bumped into Tony. He was standing uneasily in the middle of the room, arms swinging slightly from front to back, wearing only boxers and no T-shirt.   
"Looks nasty, I know" he said, running a hand over his upper body. "But trust me, it's been worse." Steve's gaze wandered fleetingly over Tony's bare chest, which was covered in a number of scars, some fresh and dark red, others pale and seeming to be quite a few years old. But Steve paid no further attention to them, instead his gaze wandered upwards, finally settling on his eyes. With one step he had pulled Tony into his arms. "You're beautiful"   
"Did you even look?" Tony complained.   
"Yes, I did" Steve assured him. "And I saw a beautiful man." Steve felt Tony shudder beneath his hands and then he also wrapped his arms around Steve and sank deeper into the embrace. "Sometimes I really don't know what I did to deserve you," he murmured.  
"Believe me, the feeling is mutual."

It was the first night that Steve felt Tony's bare skin on his upper body instead of the fabric of a T-shirt. He had rested his head on Steve's chest and was tracing gentle circles on his skin with his fingers. Steve ran his hand thoughtfully over Tony's bare back. To many it would probably not be a big deal, but Tony had always avoided showing Steve his naked upper body. Steve hadn't questioned it and had just assumed that he wasn't ready yet. He himself came from a time when these things went much more slowly and had no problem with waiting.  
The fact that Tony now had the courage made Steve happy and, above all, very proud of him. He knew it had cost Tony an effort, so he was eager to show him how much he appreciated him for it.   
"Are you asleep yet?" Steve asked whispering. He no longer felt circles being drawn on his chest.   
"Mmhm..." Tony made, a sign that he was at least still receptive.  
"Thank you for trusting me," Steve said.   
"Thank you for loving me," Tony replied sleepily and Steve had to smile.

It was the only thing Tony's coming out had changed in their life together: Steve now enjoyed Tony's skin on his own every night and it didn’t took long until he couldn't imagine it any other way. With each night, Tony seemed to gain confidence and when Tony walked around the flat one evening, topless and unconcerned, and even passed a window, Steve raised his eyebrows impressed, which Tony noted with a cheeky smile.

Only one evening later, Tony suddenly stood in the doorway to the bedroom, a large leather-bound book in his hands. Steve was already in bed reading _Becoming a visible Man_ when he looked up. It felt like it had been years since he had pulled the album from the bottom shelf. In fact, he had simply forgotten about it. Not because he didn't care what was inside, but because he knew Tony would bring it up when he felt like it.   
"Do you have time?" Tony asked timidly, pressing the book to his chest like he had done back then, as if he wanted to protect its contents from prying eyes. Steve withheld a quip about the fact that he was half-naked in bed and therefore obviously had no intention of going anywhere, but put his book away and said, "Sure, what's up?"  
Tony slid under the warmed bedspread next to him, and laid the album down on his knees.   
"Do you still want to hear about my past?" he asked.  
"Only if you want to tell me" Steve replied, putting an arm around Tony's shoulders to pull him closer.  
"Actually, I didn't want to" Tony said honestly. "You were the first one who didn't know about any of this. Jesus, you didn't know anything at all. And that was fantastic. I loved that I never had to prove myself to you. I wanted it to be like that forever."

"Then don't tell me" Steve suggested. "I don't need to know"  
"But you want to know" Tony said and it was a statement.  
Steve hemmed and hawed a little before replying. "It's a part of you. Of course I want to know. But I don't want you to be uncomfortable with it."  
"No, it's okay... ", Tony said. "I mean... I've been very uncomfortable with it for a very long time. But I know that I can trust you and that I don't have to prove anything to you. And right now it feels like I'm hiding something from you and I don't want that." Steve's heart warmed at how open and honest Tony was with him and he pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Then he said, "Do you mind if I ask questions?"  
Tony pondered for a moment. "Ask anything you want. But I don't guarantee I'll answer." Steve nodded.

Tony opened the photo album and slowly flipped through the pages from the beginning to give Steve the opportunity to look at each individual picture. Steve watched the Tony in the pictures grow from a baby to a toddler. He saw how he read his first books, how he continued to grow and eventually started school. As Tony turned another page, Steve raised his voice for the first time, "That was the page I opened when I... moved in" He just mumbled the last words a little embarrassed. He still felt very uncomfortable that he had put Tony in this position in the first place, because he had violated his privacy out of sheer curiosity. But Tony didn't seem to have a problem with it any more, because he nodded and said, "I think those were the first weeks at boarding school. I have no idea what the names of the other two were... I think something with N... Natalie? Natasha? Or L? I don't know."   
Steve looked more closely at the photos he had already seen. Now that he knew who he was looking at, he knew why the eyes had caught his attention. He would recognise Tony's eyes everywhere. He could sink into their soothing dark brown for hours.   
Tony kept flipping the pages and Steve followed the photos, which were now telling the story of a Tony who was slowly growing into a teenager at boarding school.   
"I like that picture" Steve said, pointing to a photo on the page Tony had just turned. It showed Tony, maybe 12 or 13 years old, wearing a black T-shirt with a colourful print, jeans that were torn wide open at the knees and a baseball cap that sat backwards on his short hair. On the table in front of him was a clunky laptop and he was beaming at the camera while presenting a website that had _T.O.N.E.S._ emblazoned on it in big letters.   
"I think this is the first picture where you look genuinly happy" Steve said.  
"I finally cut my hair short the day before" Tony explained with a smile. Even now it was obvious how liberating that must have been for him. "Well, actually Arno cut it, but it amounts to the same thing".  
"What does T.O.N.E.S. stand for?"  
"Tony's Original Network and Experimental Space" Steve couldn't help laughing. "Yes, my acronyms have also improved considerably over the years" Tony admitted with a grin. 

He continued flipping through the pages and now the number of photos per year was increasing, which was certainly also due to the fact that the camera technology had steadily improved. But above all, the pictures documented a Tony who was finding his true self more and more and was gradually beginning to resemble the Tony Steve knew and loved.   
Tony pointed to another photo. It showed himself, no older than 15, and another boy who also looked familiar to Steve.   
"Rhodey was the first to know me simply as Tony. MIT was a complete reboot for me" Steve nodded, and again felt a piece of the puzzle falling into place in his head. It explained the close bond Rhodey and Tony still had. Steve looked with interest at the many pictures Tony and his friends had taken at MIT. It felt like they had captured every project, every party, every free minute and every not-so-free minute. Steve smiled.   
"Thanks for showing me these, Tony, really." He said with all the sincerity he had.   
"Well, these are considerably less unpleasant than..." Tony gestured vaguely at the pile of pages they already had finished.   
"But I mean it. Thank you." And now it was Tony who pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"After graduating from MIT, however, there are only a few sporadic photos," he then said. "I worked a lot on my own and after 2006 I had other things to do." His expression darkened and Steve didn't have to ask why. In 2006 his parents had died.   
"As a result of the whole Stark Industries takeover, the media... well let's just say it was a huge shitshow and not nice" he curtailed, slamming the album shut a little too hard. "I hope they don't dig it up again, but by now they've probably published every one of my secrets at least twice so..." he shrugged, throwing the photo album off the bed and it landed on the carpet with a thump.   
"Tony," Steve said, straightening so he could cup Tony's face with both hands. Tony looked at him and Steve was lost in the brown eyes for a moment. "I want you to know that you're the best, most beautiful, and bravest man I've ever known."  
"Don't make me cry, Steve," Tony joked, but his eyes could not lie to Steve. They had become moist.   
"I'm just telling the truth. And I will repeat it every single day for all eternity if I have to"  
"Oh God, please don't" Tony laughed but his lower lip trembled. Steve pressed a kiss to it and Tony returned the kiss with so much passion that it took Steve's breath away for a moment. He loved kissing Tony, but he had never felt such a heat when kissing.   
Tony greedily pressed his lips to Steve's and as his hand moved over Steve's chest, a gasp escaped him, muffled by Tony's mouth. Unresisting, Steve let Tony push him back into the pillows and before he knew it, Tony had one leg wrapped around Steve and was kneeling over him. Not once had he interrupted their kiss in the process.   
His hands travelled over Steve's naked upper body and down to his loins. Only when Tony's fingers went under the waistband of his shorts did Steve break away from the kiss. He held Tony's hands tightly and looked into his eyes.   
"Are you sure?" he asked. Until now, Tony had always been very reticent. It had taken him months to show himself topless to Steve, and although he had occasionally signalled that he actually wanted more, he had always made sure that Steve had seen him at least partially clothed. More had not been on the cards and Steve had restrained himself, had waited until Tony was ready. But now, with Tony sitting on top of him like that, letting his fingers roam adventurously over his body, barely letting him catch his breath between kisses, Steve was slowly but surely losing control.  
"I've never been so sure" Tony said breathlessly but firmly. "But if you suddenly have doubts..." Steve wrapped his arms around his torso and pulled him back down to erase his concerns with another intimate kiss. And while Tony continued to explore Steve's body, completely checkmating Steve with it, the photo album lay forgotten on the floor. 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr: @diebecceee.tumblr.com
> 
> Thank you for reading <3


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